Their disagreement involved a potential project, called the “Crestview bypass eastern alignment,” that would ease traffic congestion on State Road 85 by the Hub City.

Before Boyles and Ketchel sparred, the commission heard from Deputy County Administrator Kay Godwin that the county doesn’t have enough preliminary data yet on the possible bypass to give to the Triumph Gulf Coast Board for funding consideration.

Boyles then noted that the bypass would be in Commission Vice-Chairman Graham Fountain’s district.

“He has been gracious in sharing some of the effort in ... pushing on this project,” Boyles said. “I have been pushing on these transportation projects in the north end with the support of my fellow commissioners for a long time now. I believe that the time has come for an earnest discussion about an eastern bypass alignment around the city of Crestview.

“Pick any Thursday afternoon for the thousands and thousands of folks who work on Eglin Air Force Base and who find affordable housing and a great community and a good place to live in the north end of the county, and you’ll join them somewhere (on S.R. 85) between the (S.R.) 123 overpass and the Duke Field flyover for a nice little tailgate party,” Boyles continued.

“And you hang out and you cruise along and listen to your music. You shout back and forth from the windows, sometimes cursing. Everybody gets a lot of time to catch up on Facebook as you sit in the traffic jam waiting for the privilege to go home each day.”

He said to his understanding, Eglin officials consider traffic challenges, access to the base and base readiness as some of their preeminent issues.

“If we do not preserve mission readiness on that base, then we are going to put it at risk,” Boyles said. “Moving traffic in and around Crestview is an absolutely critical project.”

Boyles is the vice-chairman of the Okaloosa-Walton Transportation Planning Organization. He said he was unable to attend the TPO’s meeting in late October but was “devastated” to learn that “one bureaucrat, at a very low level — a disgruntled former Okaloosa County employee — who has made it his mission in life to try and kill any future transportation projects in north Okaloosa County, is now (before) the TPO trying to again knock down the bypass process, and we can’t seem to remain coordinated.”

The “bureaucrat” Boyles was referring to is Jeff Fanto, Eglin’s chief of portfolio optimization and former growth project coordinator for the county.

Boyles called for the commission to reach a consensus with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Triumph board, the federal government and Eglin to ensure base readiness and provide needed traffic infrastructure.

After Boyles wrapped up his speech, Ketchel told him that some of his comments were “outrageous.”

She noted that she and County Administrator John Hofstad recently met with the base commander and other Eglin officials, including Fanto, who Ketchel said Boyles just spoke of in “a very degrading and demeaning and condescending way.”

Fanto “has worked hard for this county,” Ketchel said.

She said if the base changes its mission and leaves Okaloosa, the county would not need to build certain roads.

“How we come to a consensus is not by degrading other people or by calling them names or being demeaning, but by working with the base staff,” Ketchel said. “We don’t want to cause a problem between the County Commission and Eglin Air Force Base.”

She said county officials are waiting to receive more information from base officials regarding Eglin’s stance on the possible bypass.

“We need to go back, hat in hand and sit down and talk” with base officials, said Ketchel, who then directly referred to Boyles in her next comments.

“Just because YOU think we need to go (with) the eastern bypass may not be what we need to do,” she said. “That is one solution that looks like a good solution, but it may not be (viable), and we can’t do it without the military.”

Ketchel then looked at Boyles and told him, “I’m really frustrated with you today. I don’t know what your attitude is, but stop it. The citizens of our county deserve more. Grow up. It’s time.”

Boyles told Ketchel he would not get in a “back and forth” with her.

But, “My citizens expect and deserve progress out of this commission, and niceties and pleasantries and everyone leaving these meetings feeling good and happy will not produce infrastructure for my citizens,” Boyles said. “It will not produce economic development. It will not produce a higher quality of life for my citizens. I will come to work every day and I will work determinedly to make sure that we have those things for my citizens.

“And if that offends anyone, if that steps on your toes, madam chair, then I most humbly apologize, but you should not expect any change in course from me,” Boyles continued. “I have one speed, and it’s full speed, and I have one direction, and that’s straight ahead, and that is where I will take this county.

"And you can go with us, or you can stay behind, but I believe that we have a commission that is dedicated to doing the right thing and to growing this county and to providing that quality of life that our citizens expect. Thank you, madam chair.”

After discussion by other commissioners, Boyles said he is willing to meet “more than halfway” with Eglin officials on the possible bypass.